
Mediator, dispute resolution trainer, negotiation coach, writer, speaker, and lawyer
Greater Boston Area

Mediator, dispute resolution trainer, negotiation coach, writer, speaker, and lawyer
Greater Boston Area
As a mediator, I work with litigants and private clients to resolve disputes involving business, tort, real estate, and family/family business issues. In tough economic times, talking things out can save not just money but also strategic relationships.
An experienced trainer and coach for over 12 years, I have taught thousands of people to resolve conflict, negotiate better, or become mediators -- from lawyers and judges from Eastern Europe through the US Agency for International Development to Fortune 500 executives.
My profession of origin is the law: as an attorney I practiced tort, municipal, labor/employment, and probate law for both sides of the legal aisle. It gave me an appreciation for seeing things from all sides. I'm also an avid experimenter when it comes to digital technology. I have been blogging for four years and advise dispute resolution professionals on social media, web site design and web strategy.
Writing is an important component of my professional life, allowing me to creatively explore and share ideas relating to the resolution of disputes or negotiating business and interpersonal issues. Together with three colleagues, I write an ADR column in The Complete Lawyer, and publish the award-winning blog MediationChannel.com.
Public service matters, and I am committed to finding ways to support the administration of justice or raise public awareness of alternatives to litigation for the amicable resolution of disputes. I have served on several non-profit boards of directors of organizations serving the needs of communities large and small, including four years as an officer and director of the Association for Conflict Resolution's New England Chapter. I am a past member of the Massachusetts Trial Court Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution, which I continue to advise on digital technology and the web, and was recently appointed a fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, where I serve on the IOLTA Grant Advisory Committee.
Mediation. Conflict resolution and negotiation training. Facilitation. Coaching in conflict resolution and negotiation. Negotiation coaching for women in business, particularly women in transition and recent graduates. Qualified Administrator of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®. Web site design, consulting for dispute resolution professionals.
(Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)
January 2005 — Present (4 years 11 months)
I blog about mediation, negotiation, ADR, and conflict resolution at the crossroads of law, social science, and popular culture at MediationChannel.com
(Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)
April 2003 — Present (6 years 8 months)
Founder and principal of company providing a full range of dispute resolution services, including mediation, arbitration, case evaluation, and conflict resolution training and consulting, to business, family, organizations, and institutional clients. Negotiation and executive coaching. Web site design and consulting for alternative dispute resolution practitioners.
(Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)
2001 — Present (8 years )
(Law Practice industry)
February 2008 — July 2009 (1 year 6 months)
With fellow ADR bloggers Stephanie West Allen, Gini Nelson, and Victoria Pynchon, I am a regular columnist for The Complete Lawyer. Our column, "The Human Factor" focuses on dispute resolution and negotiation in the context of life and work at the bar.
(Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)
2003 — 2007 (4 years )
(Sole Proprietorship; Myself Only; Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)
January 1995 — April 2003 (8 years 4 months)
Sole proprietor of business providing mediation and conflict resolution training and consulting services. Assisted clients in successfully resolving workplace, divorce, family, small business, community, consumer, tort, and real estate disputes. Provided conflict resolution consulting and training services for for-profit and non-profit organizations, institutions, agencies, and municipalities. Negotiation coaching for small business owners.
J.D. , Law , September 1989 — February 1993
Cum laude graduate.
B.A. , Russian language , September 1978 — June 1980
Phi Beta Kappa graduate.
Mediation and dispute resolution services, including mediation training, and conflict resolution and negotiation coaching. Digital technology, including social media and web design and marketing. Internet and law.
Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation
Association for Conflict Resolution, New England Chapter
Essex County Bar Association
American Bar Association & Section on Dispute Resolution
Massachusetts Bar Association
Blawg Review contributor
Phi Beta Kappa. Recipient of the Community Mediator Award, Massachusetts Association of Mediation Programs and Practitioners, 2001 Annual Conference.